The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of different feed restrictions which were applied in early period on change of Body Mass Index of Ross 308 broiler chickens. For this aim we used to two different statistical methods, namely Profile analysis and Growth curves. The daily body weight and weekly body length change of chickens was collected from 7 days of age to 42 days of age. Profile analysis was used to compare differences among the groups and the Gompertz growth function was regressed from these data to estimate the growth parameters. The group profiles were not found parallel in terms of Body Mass Index (P<0.001) as a result of the Profile analysis. Therefore once concludes that the difference in Body Mass Index (BMI) of the animals between weeks depends on feeding regime (profiles are not parallel). The value of A and b parameter values were 0.02368 and 0.83436 for ad libitum group (AD), 0.02216 and 0.75251 for 20 % feed restriction based on ad libitum group (YK), 0.02235 and 0.79656 for HG group, respectively. Inflection point (k) for HG group was fount smaller than that of the AD and YK groups. All parameter estimates and growth characteristics for chickens based on Gompertz growth model were significant (P<0.05).

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of different feeding programs such as ad libitum feeding (AD), 20 % feed restriction based on ad libitum group (FR1) and not fed between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. (FR2) on deviation from bilateral symmetry or developmental stability in broiler chickens by means of two different approaches namely asymmetry measures and allometric growth model parameters. The weekly left and right sides of shank length, shank width, wing length and face width of chickens were collected from 7 days of age to 42 days of age. Results of this study showed that the deviations from the bilateral symmetry were mostly in fluctuating asymmetry (FA) in the FR1 group birds. On the other hand, the deviations from the bilateral symmetry in the birds in group AD and FR2 were mostly in the form of anti-symmetry (AS) and directional asymmetry (DA) respectively. In this study, the deviation from the bilateral symmetry was mostly in FA type for the measured morphological characters for the FR1 group, and the FA level was usually lower indicating higher welfare level and lower developmental instability for these animals than that of the AD and FR2 groups. Allometric growth coefficients for evaluating the effects of the feeding programs on the developmental stability were a little bit different from the findings obtained by the asymmetry measures‘ being taken into account. Allometric growth parameters, therefore, should be taken into consideration, along with asymmetry measures when investigating effect of rearing conditions or environmental conditions on developmental stability. As a conclusion, intensive feeding (AD) and long-term feed restriction (FR2) can be said as an important environmental factor affecting developmental stability and dependently the animal welfare and performance.

Sixteen kids were assigned at an average of 6 weeks of age to two treatments: control with no supplementation and 5 g/kid of probiotic supplementation daily. The probiotic was resuspended in distilled water and given orally every day in the morning throughout a 42 d study. Grower concentrate, vetch hay and water were offered ad libitum throughout the study. Kids were abruptly weaned 14 days after the initiation of the study and received only grower concentrate, vetch hay and water ad libitum from d 15 to 42. The supplementation of probiotic did not result in any significant differences in weight gain, nutrient intake, feed efficiency and diarrhea score in kids. However a positive trend toward improved weight gain, feed intake and feed efficiency in kids supplemented with probiotic suggested that probiotic might improve growth and performance of kids and are worth further investigation.

A study was conducted to evaluate the influence of three lighting programs (23L: 1D), (18L: 6D), and (12L: 12D) on live weight changes of American Bronze turkeys by Profile analysis technique. The F-statistics and Wilk’s Lamba statistics for testing group-response interaction or similar profiles suggested that there was a significant interaction effect (p<0.01). The effects of the three lighting programs on live weight gain appeared to be different throughout the study except for the last 6 weeks. On the other hand, the results of the present study suggested that the effect of the three lighting programs on live weight gain followed a similar trend or three lighting programs had similar physiological effect on live weight gain from 10th week on wards.

This study aimed to investigate the relations among the pre- and post-slaughter traits of American bronze turkeys. Birds were raised under three different lighting regimes. Pre-slaughter traits were measured when the birds were 15-, 20-, and 30-weeks of age. Canonical correlation analysis showed that as the birds aged the relations among the pre- and post-slaughter characters became more pronounced. Coefficients of determination (R²) were 63.6-82.8% when pre-slaughter characteristics were measured at the 15th week, 84.8–94.6% at the 20th week, and 91.3–99.1% at the 30th week, respectively.